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NUMBER ONE. 



BY GEORaE M. WESTON. 



There will be found appended, extracts from 
speeches made in Congress during the present 
session down to the present date (April 26, 1856) 
by Southern members, in which is avowed the 
purpose, in certain contingencies, of dissolving 
the Union and overturning the existing Federal 
Government. 

To enable those who may choose to dp so, to 
verify either the literal accuracy of these ex- 
tracts, or their fairness as exhibiting the scope 
and purpose of the gentlemen quoted, reference 
is made to the pages of the Congressional Globe 
and Appendix in which the speeches may be 
found, excepting those of Messrs. Keitt and 
Shorter, which (as yet) have appeared only in 
the Daily Globe. 

Quotations are only made from those speeches, 
in which the purpose of dissolving the Union in 
certain contingencies is avowed directly and 
without circumlocution. To have extended the 
range of quotation, so as to have embraced all 
the speeches of Southern members, in which 
the same threat is contained only inferentially 
but not less unmistakeably, would have pro- 
tracted this article to an unreasonable length. 

Such an extension of the range of quotation 
would have included nearly all the Southern 
gentlemen who have spoken during the present 
session of Congress. 

It will appear remarkable that gentlemen, 
thus in the daily habit of threatening a dissolu- 
tion of the Union, should assume to be the only 
"sound," the only "conservative," the only 
" Aa<io»ia/," and even the only " Union" men in 
the country, and should have made it an especial 
objection to the election of Mr. Banks to the 
Speakership, that he said, or is reported to have 
said on the stump, that under certain circum- 
stances he was willing " to let the Union slide." 



It is not less remarkable that these same gen- 
tlemen attempt to fix the charge of "disunion," 
upon parties at the North, who not only con- 
stantly disavow such a sentiment, but many of 
whom do, with Mr. Giddings of Ohio, avow 
their fixed purpose to uphold the Government 
and put down Southern nullification, if need be, 
by force of arms. 

Majority interests and majority parties may 
be guilty of tyranny and oppression. To charge 
them with those offences may be just, or unjust, 
but cannot be absurd. The political power of 
this country rests with the free States, and they 
can suffer no wrongs in the Union, or under the 
Union, but with their own acquiescence. Re- 
volt, rebellion, nullification, secession; these 
are the resorts and remedies of minorities. The 
free States can have no motive to leave a Union, 
which they have the assured power to control. 
It is a palpable absurdity to charge them with, 
any such purpose. 

The deliberate declarations of Southern Sen- 
ators and Representatives, that they will over- 
throw the Union, in various contingencies, but 
especially unless they can enjoy the unrestricted 
right of carrying slaves and slavery into all the 
Territories of the United States, present mat- 
ter of grave consideration. 

If those declarations are made in good faith, 
and if the attempt will be made to carry them 
into effect, the country should understand it and 
deliberate upon it. 

If on the contrary, these declarations are 
made merely for effect, to overawe IVorthem 
members of Congress, and to intimidate the peo- 
ple of the North, the country should understand 
this also, and deliberate upon it. 

It may be doubtful whether the sixteen mil- 
lions of people who inhabit the free States, 



^A-3^ 
^^^ 




powerful in numbers, skill, intelligence and 
wealth, inferior to no race in courage and apti- 
tude for war, commanding the seas, and occu- 
pying wide and fertile domains in the zone most 
favorable to human development, will submit 
with patience to this experiment of intimidation. 

Louis XIV came down into the French Par- 
liament, and, striking his boots with his horse- 
whip, commanded the registry of his decrees. 
The same thing, allowing for differences of 
times and manners, is done almost daily at the 
National Capitol, by the representatives of a 
peculiar species of property. 

To a certain extent, perjiaps, but only to a 
certain extent, the free States may be reconciled 
to the humiliation, by the consciousness that they 
have brought it upon themselves, by submis- 
sion to similar humiliations heretofore. 

The gentlemen who threaten the overthrow 
of the Union, do not represent the rights, or in- 
terests, and perhaps not the feelings, of the 
South. Those who tremble at the slightest 
whisper of a war with England, should not 
desire civil convulsion. Abolitionism existed 
before the Union and will survive its downfall, 
and would then act with unchecked and aug- 
mented energy. The disciples of Mr. Garrison, 
look upon the Union as their greatest obstacle, 
Qs it unquestionably is. It is not certain that a 
violent dissolution of the Union would leave to 
slavery any part of the Territories. Whoever 
remits his claims to the sharp and summary ar- 
bitrament of the sword, takes the hazards of 
the die. The great baronial proprietors, who 
are the real masters of the South, will act 
coolly and warily and wisely, and wilt inter- 
pose to restrain an exasperation, fomented for 
their benefit, before it reaches a point beyond 
their control. * 

The gentlemen who threaten the overthrow 
of the Union, represent nothing, in truth, but 
the fruits of that TERRORISM, which has put 
down free discussion at the South, silenced the 
best men of the South, and delivered it over 
helpless to the leadership of the most violent 
and the most unworthy characters. The Ne- 
braska Act would have been defeated by the 
Totes of Southerners, if there had been A 
NORTH upon whose alliance they could have 
depended. It is because there has been NO 
NORTH, that the South has been given up to 
demagogues, whose only rivalry has been in 
ministering to mischievous excitemeut. In no 
part of the country is the Republican party 
looked to with more anxious hope, than at the 
South. The triumph of the Republican party 



at the North, would be followed by the forma- 
tion of a Union party at the South. What is 
needed is something strong and firm to lean upon, 
such as the Union men of 1832 found in the iron 
will of JACKSON. Although no representative 
in Congress from that section dares now to give 
utterance to it, the sentiment of National patriot- 
ism is not extinct at the South. 

A vigorous rally at the North at this crisis, 
will crush out the whole race of politicians who 
now assume to speak for the South, and cover 
them with the same odium, which followed, the 
plotters of the Hartford Conventioii to their graves. 
These politicians see their possible fate, and are 
now trembling with mingled rage and fear. 

Splendid prizes of national regard and of 
patriotic ambition await the men at the South, 
who have the discernment and courage to see 
the right path and walk in it. Upon that tkea- 
tre will be enacted over again the same strug- 
gle, which aroused the energies of the Chand- 
lers, and Holmeses and Woodburys of New 
England, in the dark days of the embargo and 
the war of 1812. We are now only in the 
third generation from the contest which gave us 
national being. The traitors and nullifiers who 
are plotting the overthrow of the Union, are at- 
tempting their work prematurely. We are too 
near the times of the founders of the Republic. 
The Farewell Address of Washington is too 
fresh in the memories of his countrymen. The 
words of .Jackson still ring in our ears : — Thb 
Federal UNio>f. It must be preserved. 

South Carolina nullification, although instal- 
led in high places, will be crushed yet again, 
and this time fatally as well as ignominiously. 

Most suicidal would it be at this crisis, to en- 
trust men with the high places of the Govern- 
ment, who are not ice/Z affected towards it. The 
command of the ship must not be given to those 
whose fidelity is suspicious. The UNION TEST 
must be applied to all candidates for the Presi- 
dency. Every aspirant for that position, must 
be made to declare explicitly and without qual- 
ification, that in any event and under all circum- 
stances, he will at all hazards and with all his 
official power, uphold the Union and its laws. 
If any candidate refuses to subscribe to this test, 
it will be proof conclusive that he is in collu- 
sion with Southern traitors. Especially should 
this test be applied to the candidate of the Cin- 
cinnati Convention, because from that Conven- 
tion we have most reason to fear the nomina- 
tion of a man, to be designated by, and who will 
be under the influence of, the hatchers of the 
identical treason, which it will be the first duty 
of the President of the United States to repress. 



EXTRACTS rnOM THE FARFAVKLL ADDRESS 
OF WASHINGTON. 

" The unity of government which constitutes 
you one people, is also now dear to you. * * 

*' But !ts this is the point in your political 
fortress against which the batteries of internal 
and external enemies will be most constantly 
and actively (though often covertly and insidious- 
ly) directed, it is of infinite moment that you 
should properly estimate the immense value of 
your NATIOxN'AL UjNJOJV to your collective 
and individual happiness; thatvou should cher- 
ish a CORDIAL, HABITUAL 'and l.ALMOVA- 
BLE attachment to it; accustoming yourselves 
lo THINK AND SPEAK OF IT as of the pal- 
ladium of your political safety and prosperity, 
watching for its preservation with jealous anx- 
iety; discountenancing whatever may suggest 
even a suspicion that it can, IN ANY EVENT, 
be abandoned: INDIGNANTLY FROWNING 
upon the FIRvST DAWNING of any attempt to 
alienate any portion of our country from the 
rest, or to enfeeble the SACRED TIES which 
now link together the various parts." 

EXTRACTS FRO:\I THE SPEECHES OF SOUTH- 
ERN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. 

In the Flouse, Dec. 13, [App.toCong. Globe, 
page 47,] Mr. W^ALKER of Ala., said:— 

"After all, it is not the Union — the Union 
alone, upon which the retlccting man of this 
country bases his hopes and rests his affections. 
With him the Union is secondary in importance 
to the principles it was designed to perpetuate 
and establish." 

In the House, Dec. 22, [App. to Cong. Globe, 
page 48,] Mr. BENNETT of Mississippi, said:— 

" Now, sir, what is the first proposition of 
submission endorsed by the South in the Phila- 
delphia platform? It is, sir, that the I'nion of 
these States is the paramount political good. 
What is a paramount political good? It is a 
good above all others; a good above the preser- 
vation of tlio Constitution, above the sovereignty 
of the States, above the protection of the insti- 
tutions of the South. This, sir, is the first step 
of submission. * * « The gentleman from 
Massachusetts [Mr. Banks] * # » * stated, 
that"at the time of the agitation in the Congress 
of the United States in reference to the Kansas 
Nebraska bill, he was opposed to that measure, 
and that he is now in favor of a restoration of the 
■Missouri Compromise, and opposed to the extension 
of slavery, not only into Kansns, but into any of the 
Territories. * * The great question agitated 
in the public mind, is the question of slavei-y ex- 
tension, and the power of Congress to legislate 
on the subject of slavery in the Ten-itories. The 
Abolition party claim everywhere the power of 
Congress lo abolish slavery in the Territories. 
* * * We w6uld scorn, sir, as southern peo- 
ple, to present ourselves as suppliants at the feet 
of Abolitionists, and claiming mercy at their 
hands. * * I come in the name of my people, 
not with threats, but with warnings. If you 
love the Union, by the high obligations which 
that sentiment imposes on you, we warn you 
to preserve it. * • Sir, it was in 1651 that 
this aggressive spirit on the part of the Noith 



caused the people of my State to meet in Con- 
vention; and in that Convention the Union party 
of the State declared that there were aggres- 
sions by the North that would amount to intol- 
erable oppression, and would eventually sever 
the ties that bind us together, and DISSOLVE 
THE UNION; and that, contemplating the pos- 
sible repeal of the fugitive slave bill, a modifi- 
cation of the same, OR refusal to execute its 
provisions, the abolition of slavery in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, OR the refusal to admit a 
new State into the Union because of its having 
a pro-slavery constitution — in the efforts to meet 
these evils the Union of the States must be 
considered the secondary political good. Upon 
this platform, which I thought, in 18,51, yielded 
up everything that could be fairly demanded, I 
hope now to be permitted to stand; and I warn 
the Republican party in this House, that they 
come here elected to do now the very things 
which the Union partv, in 1851, said could 
not be done except AT THE PRICE OF THi: 
SEVERANCE OF THE UNION. * * I am 
prepared to say, the South will NEVER SUB- 
MIT to the consummation of those acts which 
in your election you are bound to carry out. * 

* * If that conflict must come, 1 for one 
say, LET IT COMMENCE IN THIS HALL; 
and I hope sir, that if it be necessary to main- 
tain our constitutional rights, it may commence 
on this floor, and that the first drop of HUMAN 
GORE shed in defence of violated riarhts and 
insulted honor, mav CRIMSON THE WALLS 
OF THIS CAPITOL." 

In the House, Dec. 20, [App. to Cong. Globe, 
page 30,] Mr. COX of Kentucky, said: — 

" I make bold to say that the position assumed 
by them [the Democrats,] and that occupied bv 
us [the Southern Americans] upon this gr^at 
question, is the only position that we as national 
men, can occupy consistentlv with the peace, 
THE SAFETY, the harmony, the welfare and 
prosperity of the whole Union. * * If they 
don't like to be called Abolitionists, I will call 
them Black Republicans, Republicans, whicii- 
ever they prefer. I will call them the Anti- 
Nebraska party — the party which intends to 
agitate the question of slavery in Congress and 
out of it, at THE HAZARD OF EVERY- 
THING that is held sacred in this Union. • 

* * A gentleman near me says, that they 
have not said a word yet about the restoration 
of the Missouri Compromise. Well, they have 
given one hundred and six votes in this House, 
and the restoration of the Missouri Compromise is 
the basis of the union of those one hundred and six 
in'-mbcrs. * * When you tell me that you in- 
tend to put a restriction on the Territories, I say 
to you that upon that subject the South is a 
unit, and WILL NOT SUBMIT TO ANY 
SUCH THING. You do not understand that, 
or you would not press it so pertinaciously." 

Ca the 19th of December, in the House, 
[Cong. Globe, page 56,] Mr. CAMPBELL of 
Kentucky, said: — 

" We are led to believe that they [the Repub 
lican party] are ready to push matters to a length 
which must ultimately lead to a DISSOLU 
TION OF THIS UNION." 



Upon being interrogated by Mr. Stanton, as to 
the proofs upon which this charge was made, 
Mr. Campbell read the following, which he sta- 
ted to be a resolution adopted by a convention 
at Cincinnati: — 

" That the repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
mise was an infraction of the plighted faith of 
the nation, and that it should be restored; and 
if 'efforts to that end should fail, Congress should 
refuse to admit into the Union any State tolera- 
ting slavery, which shall be formed out of any 
portion of the Territory from which that insti- 
tution v/as excluded by that compromise." 

Having read this resolution, Mr. Campbell 
proceeded to speak as follows: 

" My remarks were based on that resolution. 
It is an interference with our institutions when 
our citizens are denied the same rights in the 
new Territories with the citizens from the 
North; for that Territory belongs to us as much 
as it does to you. * * * * Wg regard this 
Confederacy as secondary in importance, and when 
a Government falters in carrying out its guar- 
antees for the protection of life, liberty and 
property, it is no longer entitled to the fealty 
of its citizens. And in addition to that, I will 
avow this sentiment, believing that it will be 
endorsed by my constituency, that whenever 
this Government makes a distinction between a 
Southern and a Northern constituency or citi- 
zenship, then n'e shall no longer consider ourselves 
bound to support the Confederacy, but WILL RE- 
SORT TO THE RIGHT OF REVOLUTION, 
which is recognized by all." 

On the 20th of December, in the House, 
[Cong. Globe, page 61,] Mr. McMULLIN of 
Va., said: — ^ 

" Let me tell that member [Mr. Giddings] 
and this House and the country, that should this 
country ever arrive at that unfortunate state of 
affairs that the Government should pass into the 
Hands of the North — of such a Northern fanati- 
cal character over the way, and that that Gov- 
ernment should RESTORE THE MISSOURI 
COMPROMISE, or repeal the fugitive slave 
law, then in such a case I would have to indorse 
the declaration of the honorable gentleman 
from Kentucky, [Mr. Campbell;] that is to say, 
that THIS UNION MUST AND WILL BE 
DISSOLVED. * * * * One of the great- 
est misfortunes of the country, Mr. Clerk, is 
the fact that our northern brethren mistake the 
character of the South. They suppose that the 
Southern disunionists are contined to the Cal- 
houn wing of the Democratic party. This, sir, 
is the GREATEST ERROR that the people of 
the North have ever fallen into. And I tell you, 
sir, and I want the country to know it — 1 want 
the gentlemen from the free States, our Repub- 
licans, our Seward Republicaus, our Abolition- 
ists, or whatever else they may be called, to 
knov,^ it — that if you restore the Jilissouri Comprom- 
ise, OR repeal the fugitive slave law,TiiiS UNION 
WILL BE DISSOLVED." 

Mr. McMullin then proceeded to say that he 
made these declarations "in the hearing of the 
vckok Southern delegation — Whig, Democrat and 



Southern American;^' and he then added the fol- 
lowing words : — 

" 1 HOPE THAT IF ANT GEKTLEMAX DEEMS I DO 
NOT PROPERLY REPRESENT THE STATE OF PUBLIC 
FEELING IN THE SouTH, HE WILL CORRECT ME." 

Neither on that day, or any succeeding day, 
did any Southern member rise to disclaim the 
sentiments imputed to the South by Mr. Mc- 
Mullin, althongh thus expressly called upon by 
him to do so, if he had misstated Southern 
views. 

Mr. McMullin has been four times elected to 
Congress from Virginia. He has during the 
present month (April,) in an elaborate printed 
address to his constituents, reiterated the above 
views. 

In the House, on the 24th of December, Gov. 
Smith of Virginia and others, renewed the lam- 
entations which had been made on previous 
days, over the expression imputed to Mr. Banks, 
that under certain circumstances he would " let 
the Union slide." At length Mr. BROOKS of 
South Carolina arose and said: [Cong. Globe, 
page 77.] 

" The gentleman from Massachusetts has an- 
nounced to the world, that in certain contingen- 
cies, he is willing to "let the Union slide." 
Now, sir, let his contingencies be reversed, and 
I am also willing to " let the Union slide" — ay, 
sir, to AID IN MAKING IT SLIDE. * .* * 
I hesitate not to say, that if his construction of 
the constitutional power of Congress over the Ter- 
ritories shall prevail in this country, I for one 
heartly indorse the sentiment." 

In the House, on the 23rd of December, Mr. 
SEWARD of Georgia, offered a resolve in re- 
lation to the organization of the House, [Cong. 
Globe, page 95,] affirming in substance, that all 
in favor of the doctrine of non-intervention in 
the Territories, ought to unite on a common 
candidate for the Speakership. He insisted that 
it was vital, that Congress should not interfere 
with slavery in the Territories. Among other 
things, he said : — 

" If the question is to be settled by Congress, 
and decided against the South by a majority 
from the North, the Government will be endan- 
gered and THE UNION CANNOT BE PER- 
PETUATED." 

In the House, on the 4th of January, Mr. 
BOYCE of South Carolina, [Cong. Globe, page 
143,] said:— 

" I have thought, and I still think, and I have 
expressed the opinion, and I still express the 
opinion, that there arc circumstances which are 
hurrvine us ALMOST IRRESISTIBLY TO A 
DISRUPTION. » * * * I have seen at the 
North the formation of a great party, based 
upon the single idea of hostility to the institu- 
tions of the South. The only question with me, 
then, as to the continuance of the Union, is, 
whether that party will tak6 possession of the 



North? If thevdo. in my opinion THE UNION 
IS AT AN END. ****** -vVhat is 
that party pledged to? The great boasting idea 
of that party is, that freedom is national and 
slavery is sectional. That party, then, are 
obliged, if tliey come into power, as is recom- 
mended in the resolutions of the Hlate of Maine 
presented to the Senate yesterday, to abolish 
slavery in the District of Columbia, and to pro- 
hibit it in all the Territories, arsenals and 
duclv-yards in the United States. Well, then, 
it seetns to nie that if that party comes into 
power ])letlged to those measures, we shall be in 
the midst of chaos and anarchy and revolution." 
Mr. Boyce, it will be observed, does not 
charge the ^' great party" being formed at the 
North, with any design to interfere with slavery 
in the States. He treats his opponents fairly, 
and only imputes to them the sentiment and pur- 
pose which they actually cherish; viz: that 
freedom ought to be and shall be national and 
slavery sectional. Rather than submit to the 
enforcement of such a sentiment and such a 
purpose, the South, according to Mr. Boyce, 
will bring on " CHAOS AND ANARCHY 
AND REVCTLUTION." 

Mr. Boyce then proceeds to set out another 
event, in his judgment likely to happen, and 
which also, in his judgment will dissolve the 
Union; viz: that the North will avail itself of 
its numerical strength to get possession of the 
patronage of the national government. He 
says: — 

" This g-reat sectional party at the North goes 
upon the idea that, by uniting together at the 
N orth t/i-cj/ can oblaln tlie control of this Govcrn- 
menl and ilkpcnse its vast patronage among them- 
selves, and reduce the people of the South to a 
secondary and subordinate condition. * * * 
That parly which places itself upon the position 
of giving power to the North, will eventually 
succeed; and when that party does succeed, in 
my opinion THE UNION WILL BE AT AN 
END." 

In other words, if the North with more than 
two-thitds of the free people and a still greater 
disproportion of the wealth of the country, 
presume to dispute the prescriptive right of the 
South to control the government and enjoy its 
patronage, THE UNION WILL BE AT AN 
END. 

In the House, January 9, Mr. TALBOT of 
Kentucky, [Cong. Globe, page 176,] said: — 

" What was the aspect of political parties 
when we first met at this Capitol ? The Repub- 
lican party had met at the North and organized 
themselves into a sectional Free Soil Abolition 
party, determined, many of them, upon a repeal 
of the fugitive slave law, and all of themmipon 
the repeal of the Kansas ^'ebraska bill; the restora- 
tion of the ^yiissouri restrictive line; the restriction 
of slavery in the Territories; the non-admission 
of any more slave States into this Union. This 
party, Mr. Clerk, promised no good to the coun- 



try, but, bv its system of polilical warfare, 
threatened A DISRUPTION OF THE UNION. 
What else, sir? The great American party, 

* * * a few days before we met here, held 
a meeting at Cincinnati, nine States being rep- 
resented, and they, too, adopted a platform, 
threatening the institutions of the South, though 
it MIGHT COST THIS GLORIOUS UNION 
to carry out their j)rinciples." 

The platform of the American party here re- 
ferred to, was the resolution quoted by Mr. 
: Campbell of Kentucky on the 19lh of Decem- 
ber. I copy that resolution again: — 

" That the repeal of the Missouri Compro- 
mise was an infraction of the plighted faith of 
the nation, and that it should be restored; and 
if efforts to that end should fail, Congress should 
refuse to admit into the Union any State tolera- 
ting slavery, v\hich,' shall be formed out of any 
portion of the Territory from which that insti- 
tution was excluded by that compromise." 

This is the ^^ platform threatening the institu- 
tions of the South" which Mr. Talbot denounces. 
It is of this "platform" that he affirms, that an 
attempt to carry out its principles, MIGHT 
COST THIS GLORIOUS UNION. • 

In the House, January 11, :Mr. DOWDELL 
of Alabama, [Cong. Globe, page 217,] said: — 

" I make free to declare my opinion, not by 
way of threatening, but, I trust, as a patriot, 
who desires the best interests of his country, 
that if the gentlemen who are in a majority in 
this House fairly represent the section of the 
Union from which they come — if tliey are the 
types of Northern majorities, and the principle 
which I understand them to profess shall become 
the settled opinions of controlling majorities in 
the Northern States, and shall be attempted to 
be made law in this country, through the forms 
of Federal Legislation, then the continued 
Union of the Slates will be AN LMPOSSIBIL- 
ITY, or if possible, THE GREATEST CURSE 
which could be inflicted upon any people." 

And a.ain in the same speech, in reference 
to the party which he denominated " Black Re- 
publican," Mr. DOWDELL said:— 

" Sectional and fanatic, it is bent upon the 
destruction of the rights of a whole section. It 
threatens to do that which cannot be done with- 
out being followed by A SPEEDY DISSOLU- 
TION OF THESE STATES." 

No other "pr!)icf/)/es" having been "professed" 
on the floor of the House by the Republican 
members, except these, that Congress has power 
over the subject of slavery in the Territories, 
and that this power ought to be exercised in 
favor of freedom; it is easy to understand in 
what contingency ftlr. Dowdell would regard 
the Union, either as an IMPOSSIBILITY, or 
as a CURSE. Indeed, Mr. DOWDELL him- 
self takes pains to prevent any possible ambig- 
uity, and defines exactly the particulars in which 
the " Blade Republicans" are " sectional" and 
"fanatic." The principle of Congressional non- 



6 



intervention in the Territories, affirmed in the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, is, he insists, "the great 
and leading question" of the times, and of this 
question, he says: — 

" It will decide, in my humble opinion, the 
destiny of this country. Sir, vpon this great and 
hading qiiestinn, the gentlemen comprising what 
is called the Republican party, have taken po- 
sition sectional in character and aggressive towards 
the Soiith." 

In the House, January 11, Mr. STEWART 
of Maryland, [Cong. Globe, page 220,] after 
denouncing the North as having attempted in 
1820 to deprive Missouri of her constitutional 
rights, "in a spirit of aggression and propagan- 
dism," proceeded to say: — 

" It had to he disposed of, and now again 
must he met. Tiie question of the admission of 
a new State from the Territory in dispute will 
soon be presented. ***** Minor ques- 
tions, however important otherwise, must be 
subordinate to this great national exigency 
which involves in its settlement possibly THE 
DESTINIES OF THIS GLORIOUS UNION." 

In the House, January 30, Mr. BOYCE of 
South Carolina, [Cong. Globe, page 320,] 
said: — 

" I look upon the election of Mr. Banks as 
one of the greatest misfortunes that could hap- 
pen to this country. * * * * I look upon 
his principles, if carried as DEATH to the Con- 
stitution and TO THE UNION. The result of 
his principles, if carried out, would be INEVI- 
TAliLY REVOLUTION. * « * * For my 
own part, whenever that question is put to me 
■ — to-day, to-morrow, next week, or next j'ear, 
if it be anarchy, or the extreme anti-slavery 
opinions of Mr. Banks, I shall say, ANARCHY 
FOREVER." 

In the House, January 19, Mr. BOCOCK of 
Virginia, addressing himself to the Republicans, 
[Cong. Globe, page 264,] said: — 

"You cheat yourselves with the delusion that 
your platform makes you national. You declare 
war on the institution of slavery wherever the 
strong arm of this Government can reach it, 
and call that a national platform. To justify so 
absurd a position, you love to employ the spe- 
cious phrase that " freedom is national and sla- 
very sectional." I tell gentlemen that it is a 
cheat and delusion. * * * When in your 
platform you come forward and say that your 
institutions alone are entitled to the protection 
of the government, and that ours are to be dis- 
countenanced and restricted by its action, then you 
lay down a sectional platform and array your- 
selves into a sectional party. You put us be- 
yond the pale of the Constitution, and you force 
us to fight you by every fair and honorable 
means; and WE SHALL DO IT." 

Mr. Giddings and others. Agreed ! 

Mr. Bocock. Rest assured that WE WILL 
DO. IT." 

In the Senate, March 5, [Cong. Globe, page 
584,] Judge BUTLER of South Carolina, said:— 



«■ * « << I have such confidence in the good 
sense of the people of this country, that I be- 
lieve Republican institutions might survive the 
present Union. Really it is broken already. 
« « «• I would rather that it should be DIS- 
SOLVED TO-MORROW— I wish my words 
measured — in preference to living in a Union 
without the protection of a Constitution which 
gives me an equality. I should tell my people 
so to-morrow." 

In the Senate, on the 27th of March, [Cong. 
Globe, page 758,] the foregoing remarks of 
Judge Butler being made a subject of comment, 
he said: — 

"I say now, calmly, that when a Northern 
majority shall acquire such a control over the 
legislation of this country as to disfranchise the 
slave holding States in any respect in which they 
have an equality under the Constitution of the 
country, I will not agree to live under this Gov- 
ernment, when the Union can survive the Con- 
stitution. * * ■•■•■ All that I have contended 
for, is, that the common domain of this Govern- 
ment, acquired by the common blood and trea- 
sure of all parts of the United States, shall be 
just as free to one class of citizens as another. 
■•■•• * * But, sir, if an insulting, interference 
were to be made by a majority of Congress, or 
such an interference as would exclude a slave- 
holder on the broad ground that he was unwor- 
thy of equality with a non-slaveholding popula- 
tion, do you suppose I would stay in the Union 
if I could get out of it?" 

In the House, January 17, [App. to Cong. 
Globe, page 60,] Mr. STEPHENS of Georgia, 
said: — 

" I was willing to divide as an alternative 
only, but a majority of the North would not 
consent to it; and now we have got the great 
principle, established in 1850, carried out in the 
Kansas-Nebraska bill, that Congress, AFTER 
REMOVING ALL OBSTRUCTIONS, w not to 
intervene against us. This is the old Southern 
Republican primciple, attained after a hard and 
protracted struggle in 1850, and I say, if Con- 
gress ever again exercises the power to exclude 
the South from an equal participation in the 
common Territories, I, as a southern man, AM 
FOR RESISTING IT. The gentleman from 
Tennessee does not say xchat he would do in that 
contingency." 

In the Senate, Feb. 25, [App. to Cong. Globe, 
page 95,] Mr. JONES of Tennessee, said: — 

" We have a question before us and the coun- 
try which I think of far more importance to 
our interest and honor, and to the perpetuity of 
our institutions, than the question whether or 
not Mr. Crampton shall be withdrawn. * * 
•■ *" The beginning of the diflicultics may be 
found in an earnest, ardent, and — pardon me for 
saying — a RECKLESS determination to repeal 
that clause of the Kansas-Nebraska bill which 
abrogates the Missouri restriction. ■■■' •■■ * * 
We ask nothing but Avhat the Constitution guar- 
antees to us. That much we do ask. That 
much WE WILL HAVE. I do not wish to be 
excited about this matter. We do not mean to 
be driven from our propriety; but there is a 



fixed, immutable, universal determination on 
the part of the South NKVKll TO Bli DRIVEN 
A SINGLE ix\CIl FUR-THEil. * * * If 
we are not to enjoj' our rights under the Consti- 
tution, tell us so; and if wo may, LET US 
SEPARATE peaceably and decently. « * 

* * 1 tell you in every hand there will be a 
knife, and there will be tear to the knife AND 
THE Ki\lFE TO THE HILT." 

In the House, March 13, [App. to Cong. 
Globe, page 153,] Mr. TAYLOR of Louisiana, 
said: — 

" If the counsels of these men [the Republi- 
cans] find favor with us, a few short weeks, or 
months may be sufficient to fill a land where it 
has been all sunshine, with " clouds and dark- 
ness;" and amid the surrounding gloom such 
contentions and conflicts may arise, in which 
section may be arrayed against section, State 
against State, and perhaps man against man, in 
DEADLY STRIFE, as would uuike all men 

* * * shudder with fear." 

In the House, March 13, [App. to Cong. 
Globe, page 230,] Mr. LETCHER of Virginia, 
said: — 

" So far as the South are concerned, sir, I 
will tell you now what 1 have no doubt will be 
the fact— what I believe firmly and conscien- 
tiously, that if you [tlie R.epublicans] should 
have power here, and undertake to pass mea- 
sures to carry out the principles which you pro- 
fess, you would find tliat we had spirit enough 
to SEPARATE FROM YOU, and make the ef- 
fort, at least, to take care of ourselves. 

A VOICE. What measures ? 

Mr. LETCHER. If you undertake to repeal 
the fugitive slave law, and deprive us of the 
means of recovering our property when it is 
stolen from us. * *• * If you undertake to 
abolish slavery in the District of Columbia 
and proliiltit it in the Territories of the United 
States by Congressional legislation. * * You 
will find that the South, if il has a particle of 
self respect — and I know that it has — will be 
prepared to resist ANY, and all, such mea- 
sures." 

In the House, April 1, [App. to Cong. Globe, 
page 297,] Mr. WARNER of Georgia, said: — 

" We have been told by those who advocate 
this line of policy, that they do not desire to in- 
terfere with slavery in the States where it ex- 
ists; and yet it is their intention to prevent the 
extension of slavery, by excluding it from the 
common Territory. * * It matters but little 
with me, whether a man takes my pioperty out- 
right, or restricts me in the enjoyment of it, so 
as to render it of but little or no value to me. 

* * * Slavery cannot be confined within 
certain specified limits without producing the 
destruction of both master and slave; it requires 
fresh lands. * ••' * * * If the slavehold- 
ing States should ever be so regardless of their 
rights, and their power, as co-equal States, to 
be willing to submit to this proposed restriction, 

* * «- they could not do it. * * « They 
OUGHT NOT to submit to it upon principle, if 
they could, and COULD NOT IF THEY 
WOULD. 



It is in view of these things, sir, that the peo- 
ple of (icorgia have assembb'd in Convention, 
and SOLEMNLY RESOLVED that, if Congress 
siiall pass a law excluding them from the com- 
mon property, ivilh their slave property, they 
will DISRUPT THE TIES THAT BIND 
THEM TO THE UNION. This position has 
not been taken by way of threat or menace. 
Georgia never threatens, but Georgia always 
ACTS." 

In the, House, April 4, [App. to Cong. Globe, 
page 351,] Mr. SMITH of Tennessee, said : 

" In my humble jud<:ment, we should first look 
to the preservation of the Constitution of the United 
States ; secondly, to the protection of the rights of 
the States ; and, thirdly, to the preservation of the 
Federal Union. * * * So far as I am con- 
cerned, after the preservation of the rights of the 
States, which I, as an individual, or as a Repre- 
sentative, will never agree to see infringed, the 
next most imjiortant object which ought to ac- 
tuate every patriot of this land is the preservation 
of the Union. * * I believe that it [the Wil- 
inot Proviso] is unconstitutional, unjust, and 
wrong. * * Unless the South can unite and 
defend these men of the North, who stand by the 
guarantees of the Constitution, for the rights of 
the States, THE UNION IS GONE. * * » In , 
the struggle which is soon to come oft' — a struggle 
on the issue of which are suspended the mighty 
doctrines of this nation — ves, sir, in mv humble 
opinion, THE VERY E"K;ISTEXCE OF THIS 
UNION, the true hearted, conservative, and 
patriotic men of the whole country, * * * 
will stand bravely together around the broad 
banner of the democratic jjarty." 

In the House, January 9, [App. to Cong. Globe, 
page 54,] Mr. BOWIE of Maryland, said: 

" They [the Republicans] sa^' they are not 
Abolitionists, because, forsooth, they are not for 
interfering with slavery in the States. Why, sir, 
did you ever see or hear of a fanatic who was 
fanatical enough to go to that extent? They are 
called Abolitionists, and justly so, because they 
advocate the power of Congress to abolish Slavery 
in the Territories of the Union and iu the District 
of Columbia. •■■ * There is a majority here in 
favor of the priucijdes of non-intervention of Con- 
gress ou the sulject of domestic slavery in the 
Territories. That majority ought to be brought 
together in some mode of conciliation ; for it must 
be admitted that no other question is half so 
VITAL TO THE PRESERVATION OF THE 
UNION. * * * These are interesting ques- 
tions, [relating to the naturalization laws] to be 
sure, but they strike no chord in our hearts which 
vibrates with sounds of national disunion. They 
bring no tears to the eves of the i)atriot, when 
brooding over the BROKEN FRAGMENTS OF A 
RUINED COUNTRY. » « « But let this 
Congress attempt to strike down the Constitu- 
tional rights of the South, then you and I and all 
of us WILL STRIKE, though bloody treason 
flourish over us." 

In the House, April 7, Mr. KEITT, of South 
Carolina, said : 

"Sir, the next contest will be a momentous one. 
It will turn up the question of Slavery, and the 



8 



constitutional rights: of the South. The South 
should establish in the platform, the principle, 
that the right of a southern man to his slave is 
equal, in its length and breadth, to the right of a 
'northern man to his horse. She should make the 
recognition of the right FULL, COMPLETE, and 
IXDISPUTABLE. * * * » Let the 
A'orth refuse admission to a State because of 
slavery in her constitution, and the HISTORY OF 
THISUNION IS CLOSED. •****» 
If it [the government] becomes the puppet of 
Abolitionism, if it becomes, in our very midst, to 
us, a foreigji Government, the South will TEAR 
IT DOWN from turret to foundation stone. 
Abolish the iuter-State slave trade, and we will 
TRAMPLE your usurpations UNDER FOOT. 
Repeal the fugitive slave law, and the South Avill 
MEET YOU WITH GAUNTLETS ON. In the 
next presidential election the North will decide the 
probable fate of the Union. If the banner of Black 
Republicanism is lifted to victory, the South will 
raise aloft her symbol of sovereignty, and inter- 
l)ose her own shield for the safetv of her citizens. 
LET THE CONSERVATIVES OF THE NORTH 
BEWARE!" 

In the House, April 9, Hon. E. S. SHORTER 
of Alabama, said : 

" Do 3^ou believe that the South, less patriotic 
now than in the days of the Revolution, will 
quietly submit to the sacrifice of her rights, and 
STILL CLING TO THE UNION? If such is 
public opinion at the North, let it be at once un- 
deceived. We understand, gentlemen, what our 
rights are under the Constitution, and with the 
blessing of God we mean to maintain them. We 
ask for nothing more — will he cotitent with nothing 
less. 

I hope and pray God that my section of the 
Union may never again, in an evil hour, be in- 
clined to "compromise" with the North on the 
subject of slavery. 

I believe in the right of a sovereign State to se- 
cede from the Union whenever she determines 
that the Federal Constitution has been violated by 
Congress ; and that this Government has no con- 
stitutional power to coerce such seceding State. 
******** 

I think South Carolina mistook her remedy — 
secession and not nullification ought to hare been 
her watch-word. 

• •••••• 



The extraordinary exertions made by Massachu- 
setts and the Black Republican party of the North, 
to rob the South of her equal rights in the Terri- 
tories, has had one cfcct. You have thoroughly 
aroused the southern States to a sense of their 
danger. You have caused them COOLLY TO 
ESTIMATE THE VALUE OF THE UNION ; and 
we are determined to maintain our EQUALITY 
IN IT, OR INDEPENDENCE OUT OF IT. 
******** 

The South has planted itself where it intends to 
stand or fall, UNION OR NO UNION, and that is, 
upon the platform laid down by the Georgia con- 
vention. 

We tell you plainly that we take issue with you ; 
and whenever you repeal the fugitive slave law, 
OR refuse to admit a State on account of slavery 
in her constitution, OR our equality in the Ter- 
ritories is sacrificed by an act of Congress, th'-n 
the star of this Union will go down to RISE NO 
MORE. 

Should we be forced to DISSOLVE THE UNION 
in order to preserve southern institutions and 
southern civilization, we will do it in peace, if we 
can ; IN WAR, IF WE MUST ; and let the GOD 
OF BATTLES decide between us. 

The shadows, sir, of the COMING STORM al- 
ready darken our pathway. It will soon be upon 
us WITH ALL ITS FURY." 

The reader who has patiently waded through 
all this " damnable iteration'^ of passion and trea- 
son, deserves something by way of episode and re- 
lief. A short farce after a tragedy, removes 
disagreeable impressions. 

The reader may therefore, if he pleases, look at 
the following, selected at random from a vast deal 
of the same kind, uttered by Southern gentlemen 
in reference to Mr. Banks : — 

On the 15th of December, in the House, [Cong. 
Globe, page 43,] Gov. SMITH, of Virginia, said: 

"Did he [Mr. Banks] not declare, that under 
certain circumstances, he was willing to let the 
Union slide? I remember to have read, with 
SURPRISE, in the papers, during the summer, 
such a statement of his position. I read it also 
with a feeling of INDIGNATION, that one so 
gifted, and one so worthy, in many respects, should 
be so FALSE TO HIS ALLEGIANCE TO HIS 
COUNTRY," 



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